Comments on: UK government bans curved school buildingshttps://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/03/uk-government-bans-curved-school-buildings/
architecture and design magazineTue, 25 Oct 2016 20:35:00 +0000hourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1By: ElTonicohttps://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/03/uk-government-bans-curved-school-buildings/#comment-1050443
Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:44:33 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=251619#comment-1050443Headline, March 8, 2019: "Student suicides at all-time high."
]]>By: Scihttps://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/03/uk-government-bans-curved-school-buildings/#comment-1039013
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:34:00 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=251619#comment-1039013While I generally hate government meddling in the name of cost-saving, this does actually make a lot of sense. Not their rationale for it, since getting a guest-name designer to work up the plans is always going to be a one-off cost, but the general design principles it will reign in.

There are some simple facts in building design. A big one is that custom parts will cost a lot to replace. A big curved window will cost maybe ten times the amount to replace than a flat window. These are public utility buildings filled with children. Yes it's got to be a place that makes it pleasant to be and easy to learn in, but it's also going to be a place with an above-average maintenance cost. Hundreds or thousands will walk it's halls every day, scratching glass with bag-buckles, scoring names in walls with pens, slamming doors with adolescent fury.. all at BEST. That doesn't count for accidents or vandalism.

Another argument in support of this is future-proofing. On one hand a fancy modern design may look impressive, but modern gets dated quickly. But far more importantly, the idea that a lack of curved walls will in some way prevent a school adapting to the future. By this I can only think they mean repurposing rooms or expanding the layout of a school. In both cases, a curved room is a nightmare.

A curved room requires custom-made contents to take full advantage of the space (eg desks or benches that follow the line of the wall, specialist carpet fitting, moulded skirting boards). Any new use for that room will cost many times more to make use of it, or end up with a layout that makes incredibly poor use of the space.

Likewise, have you ever tried to extend a room with a curved wall? At some point you have to cut into it. You'll either be left with walls with bits jutting out in them, or terrible expense trying to work out new curvatures that mesh.

Box shapes may not be fashionable, but they tessellate. They make good use of space and they require no specialist resources to adapt to.

The ban on ETFE roofing is a bit odd, but presuming it merely prevents against costly specialist items like huge geodesic domes rather than natural light skylights specifically, then I have no issue with that.

Basically if they hadn't blamed the architects for being too rich rather than fashionably deliberate unsustainable design, this story wouldn't have even been noticed.

]]>By: Einsteins Brotherhttps://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/03/uk-government-bans-curved-school-buildings/#comment-1030447
Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:25:00 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=251619#comment-1030447Yeah but before long architects won't have the opportunity at all to be able to design anything deemed unnecessary. They will just reproduce "shoe box" designs across the country using cheap materials and cheap labour, resulting in a cheap sh*t building.
]]>By: Guesthttps://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/03/uk-government-bans-curved-school-buildings/#comment-1030446
Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:20:00 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=251619#comment-1030446What a way to inspire future generations: build boring cr*p. A local school near me just got a new school built worth millions that looked amazing! I know loads of high-grade-achieving students that went there for sixth form because of this. Government is clueless.
]]>By: Jonhttps://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/03/uk-government-bans-curved-school-buildings/#comment-1006419
Sun, 07 Oct 2012 21:05:07 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=251619#comment-1006419This is such a narrow minded attempt at cutting costs. Surely a group of grown adults can come up with a more imaginative response than 'no curved walls.' This will merely stifle creativity! Why not either impose a pound per square dimension limit on costs, or encourage schools to in some way give back to the local economy (besides educating the youth of tomorrow) in a similar manner to New York's public space initiative which allowed skyscrapers more floor space if they provided a public space. Schools are not utilised at weekends or during the summer holidays, why not focus more upon effective use of school than the shape of the buildings. As an undergraduate architecture student, it is ignorant decisions like this which are thoroughly disheartening.
]]>